Locals Reach Consensus They Need More Volunteer Armed Guards
By Masara Kim
(Jos) The Nigerian Army is once again facing accusations of complicity with terrorists following a series of armed attacks coinciding with its peace meetings with local communities. In the last two weeks, at least 25 Christians have been killed in separate attacks by terrorists shouting “Allahu Akbar” according to witnesses in areas south of Jos, the capital of Plateau State.
The attacks were predicted by TruthNigeria in several terror alerts since October 4th often followed shortly after so-called peace initiatives organized by army officials with Christian and Muslim villagers. These are the groups the army classifies as “ethnic militias” clashing over land, a characterization that has been vehemently opposed by Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, a local church leader. In recent times, Rev. Dachomo has buried hundreds of members, including little children killed chiefly in late-night raids.
Standing on October 15 in a shallow grave next to 11 corpses of his congregation, Dachomo shouted: “I am tired of mass burials!”
“They are killing Christians, massacring Christians… Our lives are endangered,” he exclaimed during the mass burial of 11 out of 15 victims killed on Tuesday, October 14.
“The Nigerian government recently came out and denied the killings of Christians. Look at these bodies—are there any Muslims here?” Rev. Dachomo shouted, pointing to the bodies of the 11 victims laid own in a mass grave.
“American Senate, you’re watching what I am saying here. The special adviser on Religious Matters to [President Donald] Trump, please tell [President] Trump to save our lives in Nigeria,” Dachomo pleaded during the mass burial in Rachas village located in the Heipang District of Barkin Ladi county.
“He [Trump] has been busy trying to foster peace between Israel and Hamas. Now [that he has completed it], I am calling his attention to Nigeria. They are killing Christians in Nigeria,” Dachomo said.
“Not a ‘conflict’“
As he made those remarks on a sunny, solemn afternoon on October 15, the Nigerian Senate was holding a close-door session in Abuja, during which it established a special committee to advise to investigate Christian genocide claims in the country. According to media reports, the 12-member committee will advise the senate on how to respond to growing international concerns over alleged state-backed persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
The move followed a day after a former Mayor in Texas, Mike Arnold met with national politicians in Abuja where he called them bald-faced liars to their faces, affirming ongoing genocide in the country.
“You cannot cover this up. Not anymore. The light is breaking through—and it is only the beginning,” said Arnold during a government sponsored press conference in Abuja.
“The blood of martyrs cries from the soil,” Arnold continued. “An entire generation of displaced Nigerians stands as living testimony. The weight of global scrutiny now building will not fade—it will only grow. You cannot outrun it. You cannot spin it,” Arnold said.
“This is not a ‘conflict.’” It is a genocide. And every day it continues, the evidence grows clearer, the witness list longer, and the shame deeper,” said Arnold who recently served as the Mayor of the City of Blanco, near Austin, Texas.
“Baseless Propaganda”
At the time of his speech at 4 pm local time, Rev. Dachomo was reeling from the burial or two of his members killed in the southwest of Jos the previous night, while facing scrutiny by the Nigerian military over a video he previously published on social media warning that terrorists were camping in hills near Jos prior to attacks. Dachomo’s alarm followed just days after TruthNigeria issued a terror alert for residents in the area 15-30 miles south of Jos on October 4th and 9th.
In a statement published on the army’s official social media pages, Major Samson Zhakom, the spokesman for the Nigerian Army in Jos, labelled Rev. Dachomo’s claims as “baseless” and “propaganda intended to erode confidence in security agencies.” The statement was in follow-up to a peace meeting with tribal and religious leaders in Barkin Ladi where the army officials openly rebuked Rev. Dachomo, threatening “severe actions,” TruthNigeria learned.
Less than ten hours later, as residents prepared to sleep late on October 14, terrorists reportedly speaking the Fulani dialect opened fire in three civilian towns located 15-50 miles south of Jos, killing 15 people, according to locals. It is not clear if the attacks were connected. But TruthNigeria learned the attacks occurred almost simultaneously in Barkin Ladi and Bokkos counties, with the army reportedly arriving late at the scenes in both cases.
“Prepare for self-defense,” Rev. Dachomo urged local youths. “Don’t put your trust in the military. Put your faith in God in heaven,” he said at the mass grave of 11 victims in Rachas, part of a group of villages known as Tatum, located in the Heipang District of Barkin Ladi.
Civilian guards pay supreme price
Witnesses told TruthNigeria the attack in Rachas began around 10:30 PM and continued for nearly 24 hours without military intervention, despite the army being stationed just a mile away. Jesse Dungus Pam, leader of a local civilian watch unit, told TruthNigeria that his team of ten struggled to delay the attackers to enable vulnerable residents to escape. But they were quickly overpowered.
“We thought the gunshots were distant, but when we realized they were in our community, I mobilized my team,” Pam recounted. “But we were confronted by fierce gunfire,” Pam said. “They split into groups and attacked from three different directions, killing five of our members and invading homes where they killed five children and one woman,” he said.
Simultaneously, two other armed groups fired upon Rawuru village two miles away, and Rom village 30 miles away in Bokkos, killing two guard volunteers in each.
Despite operating two checkpoints within two miles on the north and south of Rachas, soldiers of Operation Enduring Peace (formerly Operation Safe Haven), a joint military task force, failed to respond effectively, according to tribal leaders speaking to TruthNigeria.
“They had their field day, and despite being notified as soon as the attack started, the soldiers did not arrive until two hours later,” said Solomon Dalyop, the youth leader of the Berom ethnicity, which dominates the area.
“It therefore means our communities have no choice but to arm themselves and exercise their right to self-defense,” said Dalyop.
Intelligence leak
The Chairman of Barkin Ladi County, Stephen Pwajok, noted that the attacks followed mere hours after an interfaith meeting organized by the military, highlighting a lack of proactive security measures.
“You can hear what the people are saying, that if the military does not protect them, they will take their destinies into their own hands,” Pwajok stated, emphasizing multiple instances of alleged military complicity in the area.
“Upon my assumption of office in October 2024, there were isolated attacks, but after a new Sector Commander took charge, relative peace was restored. However, since the current commander took over, attacks have resurfaced,” Pwajok said.
The chairman expressed concerns regarding a recent meeting where participants from both Christian communities were ambushed afterward, resulting in fatalities.
“Last week, we buried eight people in Fann [district]. When the Sector [STF] commander summoned a meeting with our people from Fann and the Fulanis, after that meeting, our people who came and were going back home were ambushed. People were killed. Two up to now are missing. Whether they are alive or dead we don’t know. And there was a meeting yesterday again. After that meeting, look at what has happened again,” Pwajok lamented.
TruthNigeria’s inquiries to Major Zhakom, the army spokesman in Jos, went unanswered. However, Brigadier General Gagji Shippi, coordinator of the state intelligence unit Operation Rainbow, acknowledged that recent peace meetings may have been compromised, potentially indicating a leak of information.
“Some attendees of past meetings were ambushed and killed, suggesting someone is monitoring their movements,” Shippi said, affirming support for community self-defense.
“We are totally in support of self-defense for our communities. We understand that security forces cannot be present everywhere, so communities must take charge of their own security,” Gen Shippi said, noting recent recruitment efforts to bolster local security measures.
Masara Kim is an award-winning conflict reporter in Jos and a senior editor at TruthNigeria
